Been there, done that . . .

Sunday, June 1, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . and indeed it is. Easy Northerlies bring bright sunshine and upper 80's to TulseyTown today.

The ego refuses to see itself as it is.

Our success-driven culture scorns failure, powerlessness, and any form of poverty. Yet Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount by praising “the poor in spirit” … Just that should tell us how thoroughly we have missed the point of the gospel. Nonviolence, weakness, and simplicity are also part of the Western shadow self. We avoid the very things that Jesus praises, and we try to project a strong, secure, successful image to ourselves and the world. We reject vulnerability and seek dominance instead, and we elect leaders who falsely promise us the same.  … Shadow work is what I call “falling upward.” God hid holiness quite well: the proud will never recognize it, and the humble will fall into it every day—not even realizing it is holiness. – Fr. Richard Rohr, Meditations, The Center for Action and Meditation.

“Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism.” – Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senate speech, June 1, 1950. Indeed, we have seen this before. – Heather Cox Richardson in Letters From An American.

So that others do not see our love – after Rilke

We kneel and make pious gestures,

build domes of gold, sing and worship

a blue-sky god, meanwhile

practicing ignorance of Indra's net

connecting us to our earthly origins

our roots shared by mushrooms and stars.

— jab